


Life is Strange: Reylo Edition

by ToriaOtaku1993



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A character dies but he's an oc so idk how to tag, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Solo is a Mess, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Inspired by Life Is Strange, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Rey Needs A Hug, Slow Burn, Soft Ben Solo, Time Stop Powers, i'll probably do all the episodes, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23921824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToriaOtaku1993/pseuds/ToriaOtaku1993
Summary: I wrote this as a LiS au and decided to revamp it as a Reylo au, it follows the games but the content is vastly different.  I left some of the dialogue the same, reworked other parts, and so on. Hopefully it turned out well lol.
Relationships: Kaydel Ko Connix/Armitage Hux, Poe Dameron/Zorii Bliss/Din Djarin, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, i'll decide on the rest later
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Life is Strange: Reylo Edition

_Ben wasn’t having a great time, he didn’t understand why his parents kept forcing him to do things like this. Admittedly, the martial arts classes they signed him up for were pretty cool. But hanging out in a park with a bunch of random kids was the last thing he’d ever consider fun._

_Sure, maybe it was odd for a six-year-old boy to avoid hanging out with a bunch of kids outside of school. In Ben’s case, he was a lot more comfortable in an environment he was familiar with. Playing in his backyard with maybe one or two other kids from his karate class was fine. But wandering around a park surrounded by a bunch of kids he didn’t know while his parents observed him expectantly was one of the most uncomfortable experiences he could think of._

_Ben noticed the jungle gym was vacant, it would probably be a good place to hide out for however long his parents decided to keep him there. After running over and inspecting the surrounding area he crawled inside and sat down. It was the first moment of peace he had all day, that’s when he saw her approaching him._

_His face broke into the widest grin as he waited for the girl to climb inside. “Rey! How’d you know I was here?”_

_Once inside, she sat beside him and gave him a friendly hug. “My best friend senses were tingling; I always know when you need me Ben.”_

Ben’s eyes blinked open and he squinted looking around realizing he was on the couch in Rey’s living room. He stood up with a yawn, stretching until he heard the satisfying crack in his joints. It was still dark outside; everyone must’ve been in bed.

He walked over to the sliding glass doors and looked out into the yard, the swing set outside reminded him of the dream he just had. Rey had been on his mind a lot lately ever since his parents hit him with the news that they were moving to Coruscant. Tasked with telling Rey the news was giving him major anxiety for many reasons. Rey was his best friend, she understood him, she always had his back. He didn’t know if he’d make it without her, not to mention he had no idea how she would react to the news.

Quietly, he walked over to the stairs and slowly ascended making his way towards Rey’s room. He stood in the doorway watching her sleep for a moment, it calmed him a bit.

“Are you gonna stand there all night or are you coming to bed?” She didn’t have to turn around to know he was there, she just knew.

“Why’d you let me fall asleep on the couch?” He gently closed the door behind him and climbed into bed with her.

“Didn’t wanna wake you…” She murmured.

He could tell she was half asleep and honestly, he wasn’t too far behind. He’d worry about the Coruscant thing in the morning.

***

The sound of one of the neighbors mowing their yard woke Rey up the next morning. Her head was on Ben’s chest which wasn’t a surprise since he took up most of the bed. She smiled and watched him for a while, he looked a little different since she saw him last. He had gotten patchy facial hair last year, but now after shaving daily, he had stubble all over his face. His feet were hanging off the end of her full-sized bed, he must’ve grown another three inches.

She noticed his arms were a lot muscular than before, thanks to all that martial arts training he’d been going through since forever, mixed with puberty. Ben slowly opened his eyes and noticed that she was observing him.

“Like what you see Kenobi?” He teased.

“Don’t be stupid.” She pushed him down before getting up. “I just think the 5th stage of puberty hit you like a ton of bricks.”

“Oh yeah? Well what about you?” He motioned to her chest and she jokingly covered herself.

“We’re both pretty hot.” She joked.

Ben was her best friend and that was it, she wasn’t really interested in perusing a romantic thing with him, and they teased each other like this all the time. She walked up to him and put her hands on his face tilting his head, his hair was all over the place and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?”

“Can you even see?” She reached up and pushed the hair out of his eyes. “You look like Chewbacca.”

He ran his fingers through it, there was a really expensive barbershop his dad would take him to every other week. But while he was at camp it grew out a bit and if he was being honest, he was kind of feeling it. “You don’t like it long?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it hippie.” She nudged him and walked over to her closet. “But do you think Calrissian Prep would be cool with it?”

“Oh, yeah that’s right fancy school rules. I’m sure uncle Lando wouldn’t mind.” It wasn’t like it mattered now though, considering he was moving in three days. He frowned; it was going to be really difficult to tell her. He knew he needed to at some point, but he wanted to have a good day with her before it would all come crashing down.

“Ben, earth to Ben…”

He blinked and realized she was waving her hand in his face trying to get his attention. “Are you alright? You totally zoned out on me.”

“Yeah I’m fine, just daydreaming.”

“You’re an odd one Ben Solo but, It’s why I love you.”

He grinned and pulled her into a bear hug. “I love you too Rey Kenobi.”

***

Ben sat down on Rey’s bed after pulling on his jeans. “Did you seriously make me get out of bed and shower at 6 a.m. on a Saturday?”

“Hey, when we were kids you were short and you still had a babyface. Now you’re a giant teenager, with hairy armpits. My parents would probably freak out if they saw us all snuggled up in my bed. I’m just taking precautions.”

He scoffed and got up immediately. “We never had that kind of relationship before so I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“Of course you don’t, because your mind is as innocent as they come. It’s adorable, but I know how my parents can be. Mom will probably be up for work in a few minutes and she won’t try to come in here until after she’s made breakfast.”

Just then the door creaked open after a gentle knock. “Rey, Ben wakey wakey eggs and…” Qi’ra trailed off when she saw the two of them standing there. That’s when Ben realized he hadn’t put on his shirt yet.

“Uh, mornin’ Mrs. K…” He waved awkwardly.

“Mom before you freak out…”

“Freak out? Who’s freaking out? Not me.” Qi’ra laughed awkwardly. “Breakfast is ready, get downstairs.”

Ben and Rey joined Qi’ra and William downstairs and they could both already tell something was up with the two adults.

William was standing in the living room and motioned for the two teenagers to come over and join him. “Kids before you sit down to eat, we’d like to have a little chat with you.” He motioned towards the couch.

Ben sat next to Rey and William sat in front of them on the ottoman while Qi’ra stood behind him. “So, your bodies have been going through a change these past few years.”

“Dad!” Rey started to protest, but William kept going.

“And of course, you’re going to experience certain urges, that’s absolutely normal.”

“Dad! Stop!” Rey’s eyes widened and she hid her face in her hands.

“Mr. K it’s not like that.” Ben tried to explain.

“You two are getting older, certain…body parts are fully developed at this age.” He continued.

“Oh, dear god...” Ben just wanted to sink into the floor at this point.

“And all we ask is that you two are well protected and know about birth control and contraceptives.”

Rey stood up and walked behind the couch where Ben was sitting. “Mom, dad read my lips.” She waved her finger in front of her face. “Ben and I don’t have that kind of relationship.” She put her hands over Ben’s ears so he wouldn’t hear. “Yes, mom took me to the gyno for birth control pills but we aren’t having sex, I’m not sleeping with anyone. I. Am. A. Virgin.”

Ben just sat there confused with Rey practically squeezing his head, If this would’ve happened at his place he doubted his folks would be as chill as Rey’s parents.

Qi’ra and William looked between the two teenagers and then at each other, they couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny??” Rey huffed.

Qi’ra laughed. “You two are adorable, don’t worry hon we believe you.”

“But if it ever does happen, when you’re older” William emphasized. “Use protection.”

“Oh my god, dad!”

Before Qi’ra left for work she had asked Rey to go through her things and get rid of whatever she didn’t use anymore. She asked Ben to please make sure she got it done, so that afternoon once William left to go pick Qi’ra up from the grocery store they got to work.

“I definitely never see you playing with these anymore.” Ben held up a few Barbie dolls and smirked.

“Hey, I completely forgot about those.” She snatched them from his hands and looked down at them. Ben noticed a devious gleam in her eye.

“I know that look, what crazy idea are you cooking up in that head of yours Kenobi?”

“Oh, you’ll see, wait here.”

She tossed the dolls on her bed and exited the room for a few minutes before coming back with some duct tape, a firework, and some goggles.

“Please tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking…”

“Oh, I’m totally thinking what you think I’m thinking.” Rey grinned and set out to wrap up the dolls with duct tape after placing the firework in the middle of them. “Here.” She tossed him a pair of goggles.

Ben put them on his head and stood back watching her work. “I know that this is probably a horrible idea, but I also know trying to stop you would be pointless.”

“Oh, you love it, give me your Zippo lighter.” She held her hand out and waited while Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver lighter with an amp etched into it.

“Careful, don’t burn yourself.” He warned.

“You worry too much Ben.”

“With good reason, you’re about to blow up your room.”

“It’ll be fine, ready?”

“Sure, but isn’t your mom gonna freak if she hears?”

“If she made it back home, she’s probably cooking with the radio on, she won’t hear a thing.”

“I bet she’ll notice the hole in the floor.”

Rey smirked and patted his chest. “Trust in science Ben, even when science means blowing shit up.”

She lit the fuse and Ben lifted her off the floor and dove behind her bed where they could crouch and watch safely. The fuse went out but nothing happened. “Well that was a dud.” Ben sat up, right as the dolls exploded. One of the charred plastic legs sailed across the room and hit him in the forehead.

“Ben!”

He sat up laughing while Rey rubbed his forehead. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Why are explosions so cool?”

Rey hugged him. “That’s like asking “why are puppies cute?” they just are.”

“I’m not sure your mom would see it that way.” He chuckled and stood up.

“Well when she asked me to get rid of my old junk, she never specified how…But I guess I better do some actual cleaning too. I’ll handle the closet; you look around and see if there’s anything else to trash.”

“I mean I’ll try, but I’m willing to bet you’ll overrule all my picks.” He started to look around, now that it was the afternoon and he’d have to return home that evening he was back in his thoughts about his upcoming move. This would be his last time in her room for who knows how long, he had no clue when he’d see her again. And to top it all off he still had to break the news to her.

He picked up the charred doll leg that hit him in the face earlier and looked over at Rey. “ _How do I tell her I’m leaving her?”_ He wondered to himself before tossing the leg into the trash box.

“Why is getting rid of stuff so much harder than collecting it?”

“Maybe because you’re an overly sentimental hoarder?” he teased

“Granted. But I still need more junk for the trash pile.”

Ben looked down at the minuscule ‘pile’ that Rey had accumulated. “Next up on hoarders of Chandrila.”

“Ha-ha very funny.”

Ben opened up one of her drawers and pulled out a box of cards. “What about these boy band trading cards?” Ben laughed.

Rey took the box from Ben. “Remember when we gave them all makeovers?”

“Yeah, and it was hilarious when we were ten, but don’t you think it’s time to let the boys go?”

“Not yet, boy toys stay…for now.”

“Ah, so that’s your type.”

Rey snorted. “Maybe I think some of them are pretty, but that doesn’t necessarily constitute a type Solo.”

He laughed and looked over at the concert tickets on her corkboard, it was their first unsupervised concert together. He was supposed to take her to another one next month, but with the move and all…

“How sick was that show?” Rey noticed he was looking at the tickets.

“The sickest.” He smiled.

“Dance with me?” She grabbed his hand and started showing off the moves she’d been practicing for the next show they were going to see. Ben smiled and danced with her, moments like these were amongst his favorites.

“Alright, enough playtime for now.” She went back to looking for things to get rid of.

Ben continued to offer suggestions which Rey continuously shot down. “You are way too sentimental you know?”

“It’s one of my best traits.”

Ben walked over to Rey’s desk and noticed William’s camera.

“What’s your dad’s camera doing in here?”

“He said I could bring it up here for you to use. He’s tired of watching you drool over yourself every time he uses it. His words.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” He chuckled. “Your dad is the best.”

“Of course he is, but don’t tell him that. We need to keep him on his toes.”

Ben grinned and took a photo of Rey. “That’s one for the books.

“Let me see.” She gently took the photo from him. “How are you so good at this? I wasn’t even posing.”

“You’re just beautiful, so it’s easy.”

“Well of course.” She laughed.

Ben put the camera away for now and got back to work, he picked up a stuffed Ewok off the floor and attempted to trash it.

Benjamin Bail Solo, what in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Seriously? You’re using my government over a stuffed Ewok?” He handed it to her. “You haven’t touched it in years.”

“So? He’s special, you know you gave him to me the day we met.”

“I mean yeah, but you have me forever so you don’t need the Ewok.” He teased while pulling her into a side hug.

“You are such a dork.” She laughed and pushed him off of her.

“Ok ok, well how about this half-eaten jawbreaker just chilling in your dresser? I’m surprised it hasn’t attracted ants yet.”

“You promised we’d finish it together, no matter how long it took. Don’t be a quitter.”

He brought it up to his mouth and took a lick before tossing it to her. “Happy?”

“Very.” She also took a lick and then grimaced. “Uh, maybe you were right.”

“Of course I was.” He chuckled and took it from her tossing it in the trash. “Your mom and your dentist will thank me.”

“Ugh! So lame!”

“Hey, what’s this doing in here?” He lifted Rey’s hoodie out of the trash box.

She got up and walked over. “What are you doing?”

“It’s your favorite hoodie, you must’ve tossed it by mistake, right?”

“No. It’s fine. It’s filled with holes and…falling apart so…”

“That never stopped you from wearing it before.”

“It’s fine Ben. Really.”

He was skeptical but returned the hoodie to the box. “Well I’ll take you out to get a new one.”

“Oh Ben.” She groaned. “You know I don’t like you spending your money on me.”

“Well I make a lot of it, who else am I supposed to spend it on? Besides you know I like spoiling you so I guess we’re at an impasse.”

Rey rolled her eyes and turned away from him at first. “Thank you…” She said quietly.

He’d drop whatever was going on with the hoodie, for now, the last thing he needed was to make her upset with his news and then pile on to it.

“In other news I’m calling off the search. If you want more trash, you’ll have to find it yourself.” He sat down on her bed.

Rey sighed. “Well, it wasn’t exactly the purge mom was hoping for. But at least we tried, right?”

“Right.”

“And now we’ve got the whole day ahead of us. What do two unsupervised friends with clean rooms and clean slates wanna get into today?”

Ben thought for a moment, maybe he should tell Rey about his move now. But then again, he should probably wait. He didn’t want to ruin the rest of the day. “The possibilities are endless, got anything in mind?”

“Actually…you bet your ass I do, check out what I found yesterday. You’re gonna flip.” She went over to her desk and picked up an old cassette tape. “Do you have any idea what this is?”

He looked down at the tape in her hands. There was a date on it that read, 6/27/2001 accompanied by two skull-and-crossbones drawings on either side. “You’re the one with the killer memory not me.”

“Very true. One of my finest traits, along with my humility.”

Ben nudged her playfully. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s some relic from our pirate phase.”

“Your powers of deduction are as strong as ever!” Rey grinned excitedly. “This tape is from seven years ago, It’s a message from our past selves to our current selves.” She placed the tape in the player and Ben sat down next to her.

“So, we were eight years old? We probably sound like a couple of babies.”

“Speak for yourself Darth Vader.” She pressed play.

The sound of their younger selves laughing filled the air before young Rey spoke in a pirate voice. “ _Avast, future wayfarer! Ye have uncovered the audio log of the most fearsome pirates in the Seas of Chandrila. Capitan Brownbeard and Kylo Ren!”_

“What in the cringe is this?” Max chuckled.

Chloe laughed and put a finger to his lips. “Hush, Kylo Ren.”

_His younger self continued on the tape. “So, yer in search of buried treasure are ye? Well, if it’s treasure ye seek—"_

_“Do my eyes spot a couple of young pirates? Hahaha! What have we—”_

_“Dad! Get away! We’re in the middle of an important project!”_

_“Oh, a project! Never mind, then. I apolog—”_

_“Dad I mean it!”_

_“Alright, alright.” He laughed “Supper’s in five. Wash your hands, ya grubby pirate kids.”_

_“So lame.” Rey huffed._

_Ben started speaking again. “As I was saying, if it’s treasure ye seek, ye’ve come to the right place.”_

_Rey chimed in. “But be forewarned, the journey will be treacherous and full of…treachers.”_

“Nice.” Rey laughed at her younger self.

_“To find the treasure of Kenobi Isle, you will need the map from the manuscripts of Capitan Brownbeard,” Ben spoke._

_“Only the map can lead ye to the treasure ye seek. But be forewarned, uh, again. Only those with pure hearts will be able to see what the amulet shows them.” Rey added._

“The amulet…” Ben mumbled to himself.

_“Good luck, and, uh, bye!” his younger self laughed._

Rey stopped the tape and looked over at Ben. “Dude. That was…”

“Hilarious! We were so ridiculous.”

“We still are Ben. We still are.” She laughed and hopped off the bed. “Okay, okay. Forget everything. Today, we go treasure hunting.”

***

Rey and Ben set out to find the map which was ripped out of their old pirate sketchbook. He walked by Rey’s mirror and caught sight of her behind him. “Don’t move. This angle is perfect.”

“Why be shy? Get in here dude.” Rey grinned and pulled him next to her. He leaned in front of the mirror and took the photo.

“Subject and photographer, you really do it all Ben.”

“I try.” He chuckled and examined Rey’s textbook on her desk. “Bingo! Map acquired.” He set it down on her bed. “I’m remembering this now. Didn’t we make some crazy puzzle? You need a telescope and the amulet…”

“Which we hid inside a dark cavern, AKA the attic.” Rey finished.

“You think it’s still up there?”

“Should be, as long as the clean police hasn’t gotten to it first.” Rey grabbed his hand and led him into the hall. “Here’s how this is going to go down; I’ll head to the garage and dig up my old telescope and you’ll go find the amulet. We’ll meet out back at the pirate ship.”

“You mean the swings?”

Rey turned around and smirked at him. “Yes, the pirate ship. Capitan Brownbeard and Kylo Ren ride again bitches!” She walked off. “Don’t hit your head up there!”

“I’ll try.” He looked down at the sketchbook and thought to himself. “ _If this has to be my last day here, I might as well have one last pirate adventure.”_

Ben made his way to the broom closet and looked up at the dark cavern, AKA the attic. He pulled the string and unfolded the ladder before climbing up. “Well, it looks like I have an obstacle course of furniture in my way. Of course Rey would hide it in the hardest place to get to.”

He remembered helping William put all of the furniture up there. “Ok, I just need to slide this over.” He pushed it. “And slip behind this dresser, it’s a good thing I’m big and burly. Otherwise moving this furniture would be difficult…and here it is.” He unhooked the amulet from the ceiling and smiled. “Now this takes me back.”

He could hear Rey outside; he moved a board out of the window and sat down on a stool next to it. He felt calm while watching her, she always had that effect on him. She was wearing a sash, vest, and pirate Capitan’s hat, while holding a trowel and empty bottle. She pretended she was dueling someone before taking a break to pretend to drink from the empty bottle.

“Haha! I have you now scallywag!” She called to her imaginary adversary before noticing Ben. “Are you just watching me up there creeper?”

“You are one of a kind Rey Kenobi.”

“What?”

“I’m lucky you’re my best friend, that’s all.”

“Damn right you are, you mushy weirdo! Did you find the amulet?”

He lifted it up and showed her.

“Awesome! Now get your ass down here, we have treasure to find!”

He laughed. “On my way.”

He got up and stopped at a box labeled ‘costumes’ “Hm…maybe my old pirate gear is in here.” He opened it up and saw his old stuff right on the top. “I doubt the sash will fit, but the eyepatch and bandana should be fine.”

He put them on and made his way outside to meet Rey.

***

Ben entered the backyard, holding the amulet in one hand. Rey was standing on the ladder propped up against the swing set looking through a telescope.

“The Dark Cavern was no match for you, eh? Kylo Ren to the rescue.”

He smirked and held up the amulet. “Treasure’s sure to be ours, Cap’n”

“Bing the amulet over here so I can see!” She said excitedly.

He started to make his way over, but stopped when he noticed a ball on the ground. He picked it up and stared at it for a bit. “ _Is this all selfish of me? Why is this making me feel more guilty about leaving?”_ He started bouncing the ball against the drawing board leaning on the fence. “ _How am I going to—”_

The ball bounced off the board and Rey caught it mid-air, Ben didn’t even notice she had climbed off the ladder. “Sup, dude.” She smiled.

“Bro.”

“Don’t you mean sis?” She asked as they took turns bouncing the ball against the board and letting the other one catch it.

“Maybe I meant nerd.” He said.

“Dork.”

“Punk.” He shot back.

“Punks are cool.” She smiled. “You know what Ben?”

“What?”

She pulled him into a hug and pressed her cheek against his chest causing him to drop the ball. “You’re the frickin’ best. That’s all.”

“Where’d that come from?” He casually wrapped his arms around her.

“Just thinking about how awesome this day is, and how awesome we are.” She pulled away. “Okay, enough of this crap. There’s treasure to be unburying!” She laughed walking off.

“Hey Rey!”

“Yarrr!”

“Walk the plank!”

Rey laughed and put her foot out as if she was stepping off the plank. Ben snapped the photo and then looked at it. “Perfect!”

Before heading over to the swings, he stopped at Rey’s pet cat BB’s grave and placed a flower on it. “Miss you buddy, this is the last time I’ll get to do this.” He sighed and ran over to where Rey was.

“Wait just a minute.” Rey stopped him. “Yarr, ye must ask permission before setting foot…er peg, on another Capitan’s boat!”

“And you say I’m the dork?” He chuckled.

“Takes one to know one.”

He leaned against the swings and looked up at her. “Permission to come aboard, Capitan Brownbeard?”

“Grrrrrranted.”

He climbed up halfway and handed her the amulet. “One amulet, coming right up.”

“Okay, uh…I think it goes…” She tried to attach it to the end of the telescope. “Damn it, I forget how to make this stay on.”

“Stay here, I think I saw some tape.”

“Thanks, Ben.”

He came back over with the tape. “You know, if you told me this morning, we’d be spending the day as pirates, I would’ve thought you were crazy.”

“Yeah, I probably look like a loser, huh?” She asked.

“I mean, possibly.” He teased. “But we’re losers together.” He pointed to his eyepatch. “See?”

“If you’re a loser, Ben, I don’t think I want to be cool.” She smiled. “It’s just…This whole day has made me feel like a little kid again.”

“I can’t believe we were eight when we planned this.”

“I can. This tiny hat is squeezing the shit out of my head.”

He laughed. “Well, treasures don’t find themselves.” He taped the amulet to the telescope once Rey climbed down.

“Just like old times, huh, Ben? Remember how we used to talk about ruling the Seas of Chandrila one day? We thought we were gonna be pirates forever.”

“If being a pirate means acting silly and going on crazy adventures together, then we’ll always be pirates.”

“Hell yeah!” She grinned and tested out the telescope before handing it to Ben. “Would you like to do the honors?”

He took it from her. “Me? Are you sure?”

“Of course. Come on, navigator, point me to some treasure!”

He climbed the ladder and lined up the drawing on the amulet with the yard, motioning Rey where to go. “Okay, take a step left. Rey stepped to the right. “No, wrong way!”

“You said Left!”

“No, my left, your right. Go the other way.”

“The other way to my other left?”

“Yeah.”

Eventually Ben got Rey to the right spot and she ran off to get a shovel while Ben jumped down to join her. Rey started digging and stopped when the shovel hit something. “I think that’s it!”

She tossed the shovel and they dug up the rest with their hands. “What the…”

“That is not what we buried.” Rey looked at the canister confused. “Let’s get it inside.”

***

They took the pirate gear off and Rey placed the canister on a dining room chair.

“What is this?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s open it.” Rey took off the lid and inside was a box with a photo of Rey and William dressed as pirates. A tape labeled ‘From Bloody Bill’ with a skull-and-crossbones drawn on sat beneath it.

Ben picked it up. “Who’s Bloody Bill?”

Rey took the tape from him. “I’ll get the tape player!”

He smiled down at the photo after she left. “Rey’s dad is such a goofball.”

She came back with the tape player and climbed onto the table, sitting down. She placed it beside her and pressed play.

William’s voice filled the air. “ _Ahoy there, plank walkers!” He chuckled. “It’s me, Bloody bill the Pirate King!”_

Rey laughed. “What the heck?”

_William continued in a pirate voice. “By now ye’ll have seen that I’ve dug up yer treasure.” He switched back to his normal voice. “Which would normally make us mortal enemies. But, hear me out.” He switched back to his pirate voice. “I haven’t pilfered a thing! On the contrary! I figured you swashbucklers might not be back to yer loot for some time, so I’ve given it extra protection from the winds and rain. I’m sure you’re excited to open your time capsule, so I…won’t go on too long. Just know that bloody Bill is bloody proud of you—both of you. Keep those sails trimmed and that anchor scrubbed. And always remember: the real treasure is—_

“Friendship,” Rey said.

“Love,” Ben added.

_“—your Chandrila prepaid college savings plan! Argh.”_

Ben and Rey laughed as she stopped the tape. She hopped off the table and took the box out of the canister, setting it on the table.

“Now that’s what we originally buried.” Ben smiled.

“Huh. Yeah, I guess it probably would’ve gotten ruined underground.”

Ben opened the box and Rey reached into it pulling out a red squid plushy.

“Holy crap! It’s Billy The Squid! He’s alive! Oh, man…” She laughed

“It really is like a time capsule.” Be chuckled as they searched through the box. “Rey look at this, we wrote each other letters.”

“I remember these.” She smiled. “To Rey Kenobi.” She laughed. “Thanks Ben!”

He laughed.

“I hope you are having a lot of fun being a teenager with your best friend’ Aww, you were so cute.” She handed him the letter so he could read it.

He lifted her off the ground and walked around the kitchen reading it to himself while she laughed and squirmed against him.

“Okay, put me down big guy I have more things to look at.” She went back over to the table.

“You were really funny with your letter, mine was so serious.”

“Well, yeah, that’s you. Serious and genuine.” She smiled over at him.

“But you were really sweet with it too.” He grinned.

She came up beside him and bumped her hip against his. “…I was really goopy.”

“I like it.”

“That’s because you’re a goop.”

“Your goop,” Ben smirked.

“Yeah.” She smiled and went back to looking.

“Is your mom going to mind about this mess?” Ben asked looking at the table.

“Dunno. I thought they’d be home by now. Ben! Remember scratch art?” She picked up a scratch art notebook off the table. “I love this stuff! I’m gonna draw something.” She went over to the couch.

“A time capsule was such a good idea,” Ben commented from the kitchen.

“I know right? We’re geniuses! Argh. I keep messing up my picture.”

“There are no mistakes in art.” He told her. “Today’s been awesome huh?”

“For real. I love it when you stay over.”

Yeah.” He walked over to the living room. “So, can I see your drawing or what?”

“Nope. Not done yet.”

He went to sit down but she had her legs across the couch. “You’re such a space hog! Move over.” He chuckled.

“Nope.” She smiled and placed her legs on top of his.

Ben sighed contently and placed his arms over her legs while she continued to draw. “Take a break for a second?”

“This artist waits for no one!”

“Oh, stop.” He leaned down and took a selfie with her, then showed her the photo.

“That was worth stopping for.” She smiled softly.

Ben got up and decided to look at the photo album on the table. “Hmm, I want to try something.” He picked up the baseball cap off of the coffee table and tossed it to Rey.

She set down the notebook and picked up the hat, putting it on.

“Okay, tip your head back and put your arms out. And a really big smile.”

Rey did as he asked, the baseball cap covering her eyes. “Like this?” She laughed.

“It’s perfect.” He laughed. “Stop moving!” He snapped the photo. “Really cute, Rey.”

She took off the hat and tossed it to him. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

He placed the hat back on the coffee table and went back towards the kitchen. He saw there was a voicemail on the answering machine. Ben pressed play out of curiosity, Rey looked up from her drawing, shocked when it started playing. She dropped her sketchpad and rushed over to Ben.

“ _This is Ann Rodgers, Jessika’s mother—Jessika from Calrissian. I need to talk to you about what your daughter did to Jessika in class today. I’ll be keeping Jessika home with me tomorrow. At this point, I’m not comfortable sending her back to school at all. I don’t know if your daughter’s having trouble adjusting or what, but this needs to be addressed.”_

Rey went to erase it, but Ben moved her hand away. “Hey, hold on.”

“Are you serious! I don’t want my parents to hear that! I’ve never gotten in trouble like this before.”

“I’m pretty sure they already know, knowing the school, I’m sure they sent out an email.”

“Shit.”

“What happened?” Ben only had a few classes with Rey, and she never told him anything was going on.

“Something so minor. Her mom is exaggerating, I bet Jessika told her that I…I’m telling you, It’s stupid.”

He nudged her a little. “Come on, you’ve gotta tell me what happened. I’m your best friend.”

“And you read my feelings too well. I almost told you upstairs. Man, none of this would’ve happened if I had you there. I wouldn’t care what anyone said. Sorry, I don’t mean to make this sound like your fault. I know we can’t have every class together.” She sighed and held herself. “Anyway, she…wouldn’t leave me alone. So, I turned up her Bunsen burner in Science. Just a little.”

“What?”

“No one got hurt! Not even close! You know that I know what I’m doing.”

“Rey…what do you mean she wouldn’t leave you alone?” That’s the part he was stuck on.

“She was making fun of my clothes and…calling me a scholarship kid.”

“Is that why you wanted to throw away your hoodie?” He clenched his fists so tight his knuckles were turning white.

"Don’t worry, I’ll keep it.” She noticed what he was doing. “Hey…look at me Ben.” She placed her hands on his cheeks and brought his head down to hers. She leaned her forehead against his to calm him down. “It’s okay, I’m fine. You can’t always be there to protect me; I can protect myself too y’know?”

“Yeah I know but…”

“Don’t do this okay?”

He nodded. “She’s just jealous, you’re way cooler than she is.”

“Just to you.” She hugged him. “But thanks, Ben.” She let him go and went back to her drawing.

Ben thought about his move yet again and felt even worse about it, he didn’t want to leave her alone at Calrissian. Especially if some idiot was going around teasing her over her status and clothes. He sighed and walked over to the couch.

“Hey, hippie.” Rey smiled up at him.

“How’s the masterpiece?”

“Working on the last bit…okay, check it out!” She held it out to him, it was a drawing of him hugging her cat BB. “I saw you giving him a flower earlier. It was so sweet.”

“You were really drawing me that whole time?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—mushiness alert!” She grabbed his shoulders. “Keep it together Ben.”

 _“I guess now’s my chance to tell Rey I’m leaving. We might not be alone once her parents get back.”_ He thought.

“Hey, ready for something else? I’ve got a great plan for the rest of the afternoon. You’re staying for dinner, right?”

_“Crap. I don’t want to ruin the rest of the day. She’s already got enough drama going on at Calrissian, and she didn’t like me getting mushy just now…It’s just Coruscant, I’m probably overstressing about the whole thing…right?”_

Rey waved her hand in front of his face. “Ben?”

He sat down on the couch and looked up at her. “Rey?”

“Ben?”

“I want to tell you…something.”

Rey sat beside him. “Okay.”

“I’m, um… My family’s moving to Coruscant really soon—”

“In three days, right?”

“You knew?”

“Our parents do talk, you know?”

“But they said I should be the one to tell you—”

“They still told my parents. I guess Mom and Dad were trying to keep quiet too, but they’re bad at hiding anything.” She placed her hands on his face again. “Don’t look so worried Ben, it’s okay. Come on, dorkmeister. It’s not the end of the world.”

“Sure as hell feels like it…” He pulled her into a hug. “Why did you pretend like you didn’t know?”

“I don’t know I…I guess…I guess I didn’t want it to be true. We were both doing it, weren’t we? All that pirate stuff, doing the treasure hunt. Wasn’t that fun?”

“Yeah but…I thought about telling you this morning, but I just felt guilty.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t. Then it would have been hanging over us all day. That’s why I didn’t bring it up either. Plus, I know you hate this kind of conversation, so…I just left it alone, you know?” She moved out of his arms and got off the couch taking his hand. “Come on, I want to spend every minute we have left together having fun.”

“We’ll keep in touch, okay? And visit. And maybe we’ll move back. Who knows?”

“Chill out. You’re still taking me down to L.A. with you after graduation, right? It’ll be fine.”

“I’m kinda worried I won’t be okay without you…”

“Hey, stop that.” She patted his chest. “Of course you’ll be okay. We’re Ben and Rey remember? We’re always together, even when we’re not.”

“That’s true.” He smiled.

“Now let’s find something fun to do.” She started to pull Ben towards the kitchen, but he stopped when he saw Qi’ra walk in through the front door looking distraught. He could see that there was a police officer behind her. Rey turned around and saw the concerned look on Ben’s face. She walked back over and noticed Qi’ra crying in the doorway. “Mom?”

Rey rushed over to her to find out what was wrong. “Mom…what’s going on?”

“Baby…it’s your father.” She put her hands on Rey’s shoulders while trying to hold back her tears long enough to explain the situation. “A truck sped through a red light and—’

“Mom…no.” Her shoulders started to shake and she reached her hand back for Ben.

“He didn’t make it…”

Rey dropped to the ground, sobbing and shaking her head in disbelief. Ben rushed over and wrapped his arms around her, holding her, while Qi’ra wrapped her arms around him. Letting him cry against her shoulder as they all tried to process the fact that William wasn’t coming home.

***

William’s funeral was a few days later, Ben stayed at Rey’s house every night until then. She couldn’t sleep unless he was nearby. She stayed close to him over the next three days, he even sat outside the bathroom door for her while she showered.

During the funeral, Qi’ra tried to hug Rey, but she moved away. Ben moved to the middle and wrapped his arms around the both of them, while Rey’s grandfather held Qi’ra’s hand. Rey gripped the side of his jacket and buried her face in his shirt. His father placed a hand on his back and signaled that it was time for them to leave.

“Are you serious?” He mouthed to his parents; a bit angry that they couldn’t wait to leave for Courscant tomorrow. Rey needed him now more than ever.

“It’s Okay Ben, go.” Rey patted his chest.

“But—”

“Go.”

Ben frowned and slowly followed his dad to the car, glancing back at Rey the whole time. He climbed in the back of the car and turned around, tearfully keeping his eyes on her as they pulled out of the cemetery. This whole thing didn’t feel right to Ben, Rey needed him right now and he didn’t know what to do.

After thinking for ten minutes, Ben knew what had to be done. He looked outside at their surroundings; they weren’t on a major highway yet. He saw houses, they must’ve been in a neighborhood. Han wasn’t driving too fast, so he knew he’d be fine when he did what he was about to do. He unlocked his door and quickly opened it.

“Benjamin Bail Solo what do you think you’re doing!” Leia screamed, but he jumped out of the car before Han could slam on the breaks.

He protected his face but still managed to split his eyebrow, he could feel the warm blood trickling down his cheek to his jaw. He didn’t care, he pulled himself up and immediately ran as fast as he could towards Rey’s house.

***

Rey slowly walked up to her room and closed the door. As she made her way towards her bed, her foot bumped into the tape player. She sat beside it and noticed there was a sticky note on it that said, ‘I’m sorry’ She frowned, and pressed play.

_“Hey…Rey…this is Ben.”_

She could feel her heart tighten in her chest, hearing his voice like this.

 _“I guess I just wanted to leave you one more message. Because I know this was the absolute worst time for me to go. I thought maybe if you heard my voice it could be like I was still there with you. I don’t know…Maybe this was a stupid idea. I would give anything to be there with you now. It’s so hard, trying to say what I’m thinking. If I could just see you…” He paused. “But we’ll get good at it—great at it! We’ll write and talk all the time. And then you’ll come visit me and it’ll be like I never left. I mean it,”_ He got choked up, struggling to find the words. Rey gently brushed her fingers against the tape player while she tearfully listened to his voice. _“you don’t have to worry about anything changing. You’re dealing with so much other stuff. You don’t deserve any of this. Rey, listen. Even if I never—even if we’re moving for good… We’re always together, okay? Even when we’re apart. We’re still Ben and Rey.” He echoed her words back to her. “I will always…always love you. Goodbye.”_

Rey cried harder pulling the tape player to her chest and curling up on the floor. Ben pushed her door open, panting, blood all over his face. The shoulder of his suit was ripped and the blood had gotten onto his shirt. “Screw. That.”

“Ben…” Rey jumped up and threw herself into his arms. “You’re here.”

“I’m staying, my parents can try to make me leave you all they want. I’ll just keep running back here, I don’t care what it takes. I have my own money anyway, it’s not like I need them to take care of me.”

“What the hell happened to your face?” She noticed the gash through his eyebrow and gently touched it.

“I kind of jumped out of a moving car…”

Her eyes widened in shock as she contemplated what he just said. “Ben! You idiot! You could’ve gotten seriously hurt! You could’ve died! And where would that leave me huh!?” She sobbed, hitting his chest. “You’re such an idiot…”

He pulled her against his chest and held her. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m not going anywhere, it’s okay.”

***

Han and Leia agreed to let him move into the Calrissian dorms, they knew Lando would look out for him, but he spent most of his nights at the Kenobi residence. He didn’t mind, but in order to be more comfortable, he bought Rey a bigger bed for her room.

“Ben? Are you awake?”

Ben rolled over and yawned blinking his eyes open slowly. “I am now, wassup?” He mumbled sleepily.

She smiled and gently touched the scar going through his eyebrow, it wasn’t too bad but the hair didn’t grow in that particular spot anymore. It was a reminder that he came back to her, and it made him look cooler in her opinion.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” He stretched a bit.

“For just…being you.” She smiled.

“I try.” He smiled back and pulled her against his chest as the both drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Who should this story's Rachel Amber be? Hmmm


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